Burner using alcohol as fuel

ABSTRACT

A burner includes a container provided with a first opening defined for receiving therein alcohol and absorbent securely received in the container to provide stability to the alcohol, a tracking on top of the container and having side walls separated from the side walls of the container so as to compensate deformation of the tracking plate, a sliding plate slidably received on top of the bottom bracket to selectively close the second opening of the tracking plate; and a top plate securely mounted on top of the container to secure the tracking plate and having a third opening in communication with the first opening of the container and the second opening of the tracking plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a burner and, more particularly to a burner using alcohol as fuel to provide heat to the user.

2. Prior Art

There are various burners in the market for users to warm their bodies in the cold environment. Among which, the alcohol burner is one of the most popular ones as it is compact and simple in structure. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional alcohol burner is shown and has a container 10, a top cap 30 covering a top opening (not numbered) of the container 10 and provided with an elongated slot 31 defined in the top cap 30 and a tracking plate 20 securely provided on two opposite sides beneath the top cap 30 such that a sliding door 40 is able to be pivotally and slidably received in a track defined between the top cap 30 and the tracking plate 20 to selectively close the elongated slot 31 of the container 10. Therefore, with the provision of the sliding door 40, the user is able to open/close the elongated slot 31 whenever necessary.

Even though this alcohol burner does provide the necessary heat for users, it suffers from bad design and leads to dangerous consequences. For example, after the alcohol is used for some time, the alcohol level drops and naturally air will fill in the void caused by the decrease of alcohol. After the alcohol level drops to a certain degree and the user is using the alcohol burner, easily there will be a backfire (flame in the container) in the void inside the container 10, which causes great threat to users.

Another drawback is that when the container 10 is moved from one place to another, the alcohol is easily spilled out of the container 10 and causes unnecessary disturbances.

Still, it is easily observed that the tracking plate 20 is designed to have planar top surface and is welded to the opposite sides inside the container 10. As a result of this structure, the tracking plate 20 is easily deformed because of the heat from the use of alcohol. As a result of the deformation of the tracking plate 20, the sliding door 40 is stuck in the track between the tracking plate 20 and the top cap 30 because the planar surface of the tracking plate 20 is no longer a plane. When this situation happens, all the user can do is to wait until the tracking plate 20 cools down so that the sliding door 40 is able to once again be slidable and pivotal to shut the elongated slot 31. In the meantime, the user can only find alternatives to distinguish the fire.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the invention is to provide an improved alcohol burner which is able to obviate the drawbacks the conventional burner has so as to increase safety of the user.

In order to accomplish the primary objective of the preferred embodiment, the alcohol burner constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment is provided with absorbent filled in the internal space of the container such that when the alcohol level decreases and the alcohol burner is in use, chance of backfire situation is greatly reduced. Also, due to the limitation of the absorbent to the alcohol, when the alcohol burner is moved from one place to another, the alcohol spilling is also obviated to the minimum.

Again, to accomplish the aforementioned safety problem, the alcohol burner of the preferred embodiment has a container, a tracking plate on top of the container, a top cap on top of the sliding plate and a sliding plate slidably situated on top of the tracking plate to selectively close/open an opening defined in the tracking plate. In addition to the newly constructed elements, there is also provided with a bottom plate with a grill securely attached to the bottom face of the bottom plate to fix position of the absorbent. Because the sliding plate is separated away from the grill by both the tracking plate and the bottom plate, sufficient space is provided to the sliding plate to ensure that even there is deformation in the bottom plate, movement of the sliding plate is not influenced.

Another objective of the preferred embodiment is that the bottom plate is provided with side walls oppositely extending from two edges of the bottom plate to be securely connected to inner side walls of the container so as to prevent the bottom plate from deformation.

Other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become obvious to the reader and it is intended that these objectives and advantages are within the scope of the present invention. To the accomplishment of the above and related objectives, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, however, that the drawings are illustrated only, and that the changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of this application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional alcohol burner;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the conventional alcohol burner shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the alcohol burner of the preferred embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the alcohol burner shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the alcohol burner of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment of the invention mainly is based on the showing of FIGS. 3 and 4, wherein the alcohol burner constructed in accordance with the present invention has a container 50, a tracking plate 60, a top cap 70, a sliding plate 80 and a bottom plate 91.

The container 50 is designed to receive therein alcohol such that the container 50 clearly has a first opening 51. The tracking plate 60 is securely provided on top of the container 50 and provided with a top bracket 61, a bottom bracket 62 having a smaller dimension than that of the top bracket 61, side walls 63 connecting the bottom bracket 62 to the top bracket 61 and a second opening 64 defined in the bottom bracket 62 to communicate with the first opening 51 of the container 50 after the tracking plate 60 is supported by side walls of the container 50. It is to be noted that after the tracking plate 60 is securely placed on top of the container 50, a gap is defined between the side walls 63 of the tracking plate 60 and the inner side walls of the container 50. Also, the second opening 64 is defined offset to a longitudinal central line of the tracking plate 60 such that the bottom bracket 62 has a larger top surface and a smaller top surface.

In order to be freely slidable on top of the tracking plate 60 to selectively close the second opening 64 so as to isolate air and to distinguish the fire, the sliding plate 80 is formed in a manner that when the sliding plate 80 is moved to the larger top surface of the bottom bracket 62, the second opening 64 is fully opened and when the sliding plate 80 is moved to the smaller top surface of the bottom bracket 62, the second opening 64 is fully closed. Also, it is noted that in order to facilitate slidable movement of the sliding plate 80, a flange 81 is formed on the sliding plate 80 and extended upward relative to the sliding plate 80.

From the depiction of FIGS. 4 and 5, it is noted that the top cap 70 is securely placed on top of the tracking plate 60 and has a third opening 71 defined to communicate with the second opening 64 of the tracking plate 60. The third opening 71 is also defined offset to the longitudinal line of the top cap 70 and therefore, the top cap 70 has a larger top surface and a smaller top surface, which are similar to those of the bottom bracket 62. After the top cap 70 is placed on top of the tracking plate 60, a sliding space is defined therebetween so that the sliding plate 80 is able to move on the top surface of the bottom bracket 62 to selectively close the second opening 64.

With reference to FIG. 5 and still taking FIG. 4 for reference, it is to be noted that a bottom plate 91 is provided inside the container 50 and has an opening in communication with the first opening 51 of the container 50, side walls 911 extending from opposite sides of the bottom plate 91 to be securely attached to inner sides of the container 50. A grill 90 is securely received between the two side walls 911 by methods well known in the art, i.e., welding. With the provision of the grill 90, an absorbent 52 (or heat-resistant fiber) received inside the container 50 and able to absorb liquid fuel such as alcohol in the container 50 is thus able to station the alcohol inside the container 50. As a result of the absorbent 52 provided in the container 50, the user may move the alcohol burner of the present invention to any place without worrying that the alcohol might spill out of the container 50 and poses danger to the surroundings.

From the aforementioned description, it is to be noted that the absorbent 52 in the container 50 may be made of ceramic material or cotton. To station the alcohol inside the container 50, the absorbent 52, as shown in FIG. 5, should fully or at least substantially fill the inner space of container 50.

It is thus notable that when the alcohol burner of the preferred embodiment is to be used, the user may slide the sliding plate 80 to open the second opening 64 so as to reveal the first opening 51 so that the user may light the alcohol inside the container 50. When the user wants to put out the fire, the user only needs to slide the sliding plate 80 again to close the second opening 64 so as to isolate fresh air from going into the inner space of the container 50. Thus the fire is out.

Another advantage of the preferred embodiment is that the tracking plate 60 is changed from a planar structure to a structure having a top bracket 61, a bottom bracket 62 and side walls 63 connecting the bottom bracket 62 to the top bracket 61. Also, when the tracking plate is placed on top of the container 50, the side walls 63 are still separated from the side wall of the container 50. Thus when the side walls 63 of the tracking plate 60 is heated during operation of the alcohol burner of the preferred embodiment, the space between the side walls 63 of the tracking plate 60 and the inner side wall of the container 50 provides cushion for deformation of the bottom bracket 62 such that the planar surface of the bottom bracket 62 is ensured and the sliding movement of the sliding plate 80 will never be influenced. Furthermore, the provision of the grill 90 provides the positioning effect to the absorbent 52 and the bottom plate 91 between the grill 90 and the bottom bracket 62 ensures that enough space is provided between the grill 90 and the sliding plate 80 such that nothing will impair the sliding movement of the sliding plate 80 even when the grill 90 is heated and has deformation.

It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the above description is only illustrative of specific embodiments and examples of the invention. The invention should therefore cover various modifications and variations made to the herein-described structure and operations of the invention, provided they fall within the scope of the invention as defined in the following appended claims. 

1. A burner comprising a container provided with a first opening defined for receiving alcohol inside the container, a tracking plate mounted on top of the container and having a second opening defined in the tracking plate, a sliding plate slidably received on top of the tracking plate to selectively close the second opening of the tracking plate; and a top plate securely mounted on top of the container to secure the tracking plate and having a third opening in communication with the first opening of the container and the second opening of the tracking plate, wherein the improvements comprise: absorbent being securely received in the container to provide stability to the alcohol.
 2. The burner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the tracking plate has a top bracket in contact with top edges of side walls of the container, a bottom bracket connected to the top bracket via sides walls extending between the top bracket and the bottom bracket and provided with a second opening defined in the bottom bracket to be in communication with the first opening of the container, wherein the side walls of the tracking plate are separated from the side walls of the container so as to compensate deformation of the tracking plate.
 3. The burner as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a bottom plate securely attached to a bottom of the bottom bracket and having an opening defined to communicate with the opening of the container, flanges extending from opposite sides of the bottom plate and a grill received between the flanges to station the absorbent.
 4. The burner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first opening of the bottom plate, the second opening of the tracking plate and the third opening of the top plate are defined offset relative to a longitudinal line of each of the bottom plate, the tracking plate and the top plate such that when the sliding plate is moved to open the opening of the container, the sliding plate is entirely rested on the bottom bracket to allow the second opening free of the sliding plate coverage.
 5. The burner as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first opening of the bottom plate, the second opening of the tracking plate and the third opening of the top plate are defined offset relative to a longitudinal line of each of the bottom plate, the tracking plate and the top plate such that when the sliding plate is moved to open the opening of the container, the sliding plate is entirely rested on the bottom bracket to allow the second opening free of the sliding plate coverage.
 6. A burner comprising: a container provided with a first opening defined for receiving liquid fuel inside the container and heat-resistant fiber securely received in the container to provide stability to the liquid fuel.
 7. The burner as claimed in claim 6, wherein a tracking plate mounted on top of the container and having a top bracket in contact with top edges of side walls of the container, a bottom bracket connected to the top bracket via sides walls extending between the top bracket and the bottom bracket and provided with a second opening defined in the bottom bracket to be in communication with the first opening of the container, wherein the side walls of the tracking plate are separated from the side walls of the container so as to compensate deformation of the tracking plate; a sliding plate slidably received on top of the bottom bracket of the tracking plate to selectively close the second opening of the tracking plate; a top plate securely mounted on top of the container to secure the tracking plate and having a third opening in communication with the first opening of the container and the second opening of the tracking plate; and a bottom plate securely attached to a bottom of the bottom bracket and having an opening defined to communicate with the opening of the container, flanges extending from opposite sides of the bottom plate and a grill received between the flanges to station the absorbent.
 8. The burner as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first opening of the bottom plate, the second opening of the tracking plate and the third opening of the top plate are defined offset relative to a longitudinal line of each of the bottom plate, the tracking plate and the top plate such that when the sliding plate is moved to open the opening of the container, the sliding plate is entirely rested on the bottom bracket to allow the second opening free of the sliding plate coverage.
 9. A burner comprising: a container provided with a first opening defined for receiving alcohol inside the container and absorbent securely received in the container to provide stability to the alcohol; a tracking plate mounted on top of the container and having a top bracket in contact with top edges of side walls of the container, a bottom bracket connected to the top bracket via sides walls extending between the top bracket and the bottom bracket and provided with a second opening defined in the bottom bracket to be in communication with the first opening of the container, wherein the side walls of the tracking plate are separated from the side walls of the container so as to compensate deformation of the tracking plate; a sliding plate slidably received on top of the bottom bracket of the tracking plate to selectively close the second opening of the tracking plate; a top plate securely mounted on top of the container to secure the tracking plate and having a third opening in communication with the first opening of the container and the second opening of the tracking plate; and a bottom plate securely attached to a bottom of the bottom bracket and having an opening defined to communicate with the opening of the container, flanges extending from opposite sides of the bottom plate and a grill received between the flanges to station the absorbent, wherein the first opening of the bottom plate, the second opening of the tracking plate and the third opening of the top plate are defined offset relative to a longitudinal line of each of the bottom plate, the tracking plate and the top plate such that when the sliding plate is moved to open the opening of the container, the sliding plate is entirely rested on the bottom bracket to allow the second opening free of the sliding plate coverage. 